Goodbye
by Aerith97ORION
Summary: A short fic about Tseng and Aeris


The pounding on the door startled Aeris.  
  
"Aeris?" Marlene questioned sleepily.  
  
"Shhh…" She whispered soothingly to the young child.  
  
The banging grew louder and then suddenly stopped.   
The silence disturbed her even more.   
  
"Aeris?" this time the voice was different.  
  
"MOM!" Aeris whispered loudly. "Over here."  
  
"Sweetheart are you ok?"  
  
Before Aeris could answer the door fell down.   
  
Standing before the 3 females, were about 10 ShinRa soldiers   
and the Turks.  
  
Reno spoke first. "Why hello there, Aeris.   
How lovely you look this evening."  
  
Aeris only glared at him.  
  
"Grab them all."  
  
Aeris started to put up a fight and caught the first soldier off guard.  
He fell down. Aeris had started to cast a spell when they started shooting.  
  
Elmyra got shot in the arm, but Aeris and Marlene were all right.   
Aeris turned away from the men to heal her   
mother. One man took advantage of the distraction to jump her.  
  
Aeris landed on her back and struggled with the man.   
He looked at her with a mix of anger and interest.  
  
"Come on, little one, I have to teach you a lesson."  
  
He lifted a hand towards her and she bit it.   
He raised it up to slap her.  
  
"STOP IT!"  
  
Everyone looked up to see the leader of the Turks rush into the house.  
  
"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HER!"  
  
The guard got up and moved aside.  
  
Aeris sat up and dusted herself off.  
"Reno and Rude you grab Aeris and her mother.   
Elena you can handle the younger one."  
  
"Wait!"  
  
"Yes, Aeris?"  
  
"I'll go, but please leave Mom and Marlene here. Hojo only wants me.   
Please Tseng."  
  
He looked into those green eyes, so deep he could drown in them.   
So many times he had. He thought about his   
childhood friend. He met her when he was 15, and she was only 5.   
He had just joined the Turks and they sent him on his first assignment,  
to spy on the young Cetra. She greeted him warmly   
and the young girl instantly mesmerized him.   
He visited often, mostly on order but sometimes on his free time.   
He visited more when she started blossoming into a beautiful young woman.   
He came to her with his problems, physical and emotional.   
They both grew fond of each other.   
Whenever the Turks were sent to capture her,   
somehow Aeris would escape their grasp, with the help of Tseng.   
Though neither of them said it, they knew how the other felt.   
Tseng felt wrong because of her age, but now it was not a factor.   
31 and 21 seemed like nothing. They still never acted on their   
impulses except once. One night, after Hojo's constant urging  
to the President, he sent them out on a retrieval mission.   
Tseng went in first to warn Aeris. He led her into the basement and   
told her to hide. She thanked him and then leaned in and kissed him.   
Then the door flew in and the rest of the Turks rushed in.   
They had almost been caught. She had almost been caught.   
Tseng would have never forgiven himself.   
  
Elena disturbed Tseng's memories.   
He was startled but in a second he was back in command.   
  
"Fine."  
  
She showed a faint smile on her lips.   
Aeris walked up to Tseng and held out her wrists.   
Her face was a mix of sorrow and joy.   
  
Tseng led her to the helicopter.  
  
Before they took off, Tseng ordered the Turks to return the soldiers   
to the garrison then meet him at their headquarters.   
Rude and Reno looked questioningly at each other and   
Elena just looked hurt.  
  
"Come on Aeris." He helped her into her seat and buckled her in.   
"We're ready for take off," Tseng told the pilot.  
  
"Yes sir." He answered back.  
  
"Aeris, my sweet Aeris." Tseng said as he cupped his hands   
around her face. His voice was full of emotion. "I can't   
keep on hiding you. They are getting suspicious."  
  
"I know Tseng." Aeris replied as she moved her hands towards his head   
and started stroking his hair gently.  
  
"And we can't...we can't..."  
  
"Tseng, I know."  
  
"Aeris." Tseng grasped her hands and held them together.   
His eyes were tearful and so were hers.  
  
He couldn't hold back the tears any longer.  
  
Aeris pulled Tseng towards her and rested his head on her chest   
and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
They sat like this for several minutes,   
Aeris trying to control herself and Tseng listening contentedly to her   
heartbeat.  
  
Aeris pulled away and held Tseng at arms length.   
He wouldn't look into her eyes. She took her left hand and raised his chin.  
  
"Tseng, I know we can never be together." Her voice was breaking.   
"Without severe repercussions. We are from two different worlds   
that can never co-exist. As much as I want to be held in your arms,   
arms that have been the only safety I have ever felt, I can't be.   
We both knew that from the start, but we couldn't help how we feel.   
There is nothing that we can do."  
  
Her voice was sorrowful and listless.  
  
"But Aeris, I...I..."  
  
"And I, you Tseng. But we can't escape our fate, no matter how hard   
we try."  
  
"I'll miss you."  
  
"I will miss you, too. You will never leave my mind or my heart.   
But we both must move on."  
  
"How?"  
  
"If you will just look around you, Tseng, you will find out how."  
  
"Aeris?"  
  
"You will find out in time."  
  
"What about you?"  
  
"My fate lays elsewhere Tseng. But I'm sure our paths will cross again."  
  
"You're positive?"  
  
"Yes, I am, Tseng. Yes, I am."   
  
  
  



End file.
